Tory leadership candidate Ric McIver dismissed Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu Saturday as a “celebrity” who is ill-informed about Alberta’s oilsands. Tutu — who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his peaceful activism against apartheid in his native South Africa — told a conference in Fort McMurray Saturday the oilsands are “filth” that are helping to devastate the world’s climate and northern Alberta’s aboriginal communities.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau waded into the heart of oil country Thursday, but admonished the federal and provincial governments for dragging their heels on implementing stricter environmental regulations for the oil and gas industry. Speaking to reporters at a campaign rally for Liberal nominee Dustin Fuller in Okotoks, Trudeau said the Conservative government’s environmental policies are to blame for the delay in the Keystone XL pipeline approval.

The B.C. government's removal of requirements for environmental assessments for sweet natural gas processing plants and for new and expanded ski and all-season resorts represents a continued slide towards deregulation in the province, the West Coast Environmental Law Association charged Tuesday.

In the wake of major oil spills in each of the last three years, an Alberta pipeline operator is spending an estimated $311 million to prevent future disasters. Chastised by provincial energy regulators for maintenance failings and slow spill response and faced with large cleanup bills and charges that it broke environmental protection laws, Plains Midstream Canada now admits its biggest worry may be an ongoing audit of the firm’s ability to operate safely.

A development permit has been issued to Sunshine Village after Parks Canada decided it couldn’t hear two appeals of a conditional approval for a permanent day lodge on Goat’s Eye. Last November, the proposed two-storey, 30,000-square-foot lodge was approved with conditions that included vigorous environmental management of the wastewater treatment system and enhanced monitoring of the water course and wildlife.

The provincial Environment Department has set aside millions of dollars to better prepare for future flooding and wildfires, after enduring the worst disaster in Alberta’s history last June. The province was caught off guard with the Slave Lake fire in 2011 and the severe southern Alberta floods last year, leading experts to call such disasters a wake-up call for the government. Last year’s floods caused $6 billion in damage and claimed the lives of five Albertans.

The 34th annual Ducks Unlimited Canada Calgary Dinner and Auction, held Jan. 23 at the Westin, was a resounding success and provided the nearly 400 prestigious attendees with the opportunity to bid on unique merchandise and enjoy excellent food, drink and entertainment, while raising funds that help protect wetlands in Alberta and across Canada.

Alberta and Ottawa say a new U.S. State Department report sets the Keystone XL pipeline on the route to approval, but the long-sought link between the oilsands and Gulf Coast still faces major obstacles that could keep it from completion. The State Department’s final environmental impact assessment released Friday said TransCanada’s $5.4-billion proposed project, which has provoked ferocious opposition from environmental organizations, would not be a significant contributor to climate change.

Premier Alison Redford said Tuesday she’s hoping the province will release its new climate change plan in 2014, but admitted to frustration with Ottawa over the lack of progress on regulating greenhouse gas emissions for the energy industry. After being discussed for years by a succession of federal environment ministers, regulations for the oil and gas sector promised by the federal Conservative government have yet to materialize.

Alberta’s environment minister has upheld two decisions related to water in the province. Late Friday, the province’s environmental appeals board released its reports and the minister’s orders on two appeal hearings — one on the Sandstone Springs development in Okotoks and another to conserve water in central Alberta by the Water Conservation Trust of Canada — held earlier this year.

Environmentalists on both sides of the border are cynical about reports of a prime ministerial appeal to the White House for common North American greenhouse gas emissions standards in the oil and gas sector.

Newly appointed cabinet minister Michelle Rempel pressed the case Wednesday for improving market access for Canadian energy resources, while warning the debate over new pipelines shouldn’t devolve into one of “good versus evil.” Elevated last week to the post of Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, Rempel spoke about energy development to several hundred people attending an oilsands technology conference in Calgary on Wednesday.

CALGARY HERALD Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday that Ottawa and Alberta are taking a “Team Canada” approach when it comes to getting the controversial Keystone XL pipeline approved by the United States government.

When Alberta Premier Alison Redford heads to Washington next month to lobby for the Keystone XL oil pipeline and convince the Obama administration that Alberta is serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, she will be missing a few arrows in her quiver. Alberta broke ground in 2007 with a climate change policy that included a tax on carbon emissions, but in recent months the strategy has experienced one setback after another.

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